With Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair) at the helm, adapting from the work of the venerable author Stephen King – assembling a cast led by Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba – The Dark Tower is proof that sometimes you can have all the right ingredients, and yet still burn your dinner.

Jake (Tom Taylor) has been having vivid dreams for as long as he can remember, picturing a whole other world, protected by a lone, colossal tower, that protects the future of mankind from the dark forces desperate to take it down. While his mother thinks he needs some professional help, Jake follows his instinct, and when entering in to a portal, he transports to the world he has seen in his dreams – and he meets Roland (Elba), the very final Gunslinger, and in turn, the only man who seems to be able to take down the nefarious Man in Black (McConaughey). The latter has made Jake his number one target too, for he feels the young boys special, psychic mind could be the key ingredient he needs to finally topple the Tower.

At its core, The Dark Tower has a gloriously simplistic premise, for when stripped back it’s effectively the ultimate tale of good versus evil – it’s just a shame it gets so convoluted along the way. It’s been well cast too, not just by hiring dependable actors, but McConaughey makes for a impressive antagonist, complete with a darkness to his demeanour, while Elba is extremely likeable and easy to invest in and root for.

And yet the viewer is taken out of the narrative as it becomes increasingly more absurd, verging on being kitsch and yet without any semblance of self-awareness, taking itself too seriously. I mean, just look at McConaughey as ‘The Man in Black’. His tight, half-open shirt doesn’t make him seem like the beholder of evil – but more like an experienced maitre d’ ready to show you to your seat at a high-end Italian bistro.

Perhaps Arcel should’ve thrived more so in the overstated nature of the piece and been more adventurous in his execution, more tongue-in-cheek. Of course not every film should need moments of light-relief, and there is room for serious, dour blockbusters of this nature, and the narrative here is hardly befitting of being a vehicle for comedy – but this title is distinctly humourless, and suffers as a result.

What doesn’t help is the inclination to cram so much in to this modest running time, allowing so little room to stop and breath, as Arcel has the burden or introducing a whole world to the viewer, casting an eye over a myriad of characters, and it’s overwhelming in just 90 minutes. It’s the sort of tale you’d ideally like to see expanded across a trilogy, yet instead feels as though it’s been squeezed into just one film. Though having now seen the finished product, it’s safe to say that’s for the best, as we’ve hardly got a hankering for any more.

The Dark Tower is released on August 18th.